Ethylenediamine-assisted hydrothermal synthesis of nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots as fluorescent probes for sensitive biosensing and bioimaging
writer：Wen-Jun Niu, Ye Li, Rong-Hui Zhu, Dan Shan*, Yan-Rong Fan, Xue-Ji Zhang
keywords：Nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots (N-CQDs); Fluorescent probe; NADH; Cellular imaging
source：期刊
specific source：Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical
Issue time：2015年
In this work, nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots (N-CQDs) with high fluorescence quantum yield (46.2%) were successfully synthesized through one-pot hydrothermal carbonization approach assisted by ethylenediamine as surface passivation agent, wherein alanine acted as a single carbon source,. ethylenediamine as the surface passivation agent. The obtained biocompatible N-CQDs could effectively label both the MCF-7 cell membranes and the nucleus, suggesting the potential application in biolabeling and bioimaging. Furthermore, the addition of dihydronicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) could dramatically quench the fluorescence of N-CQDs. Therefore, a novel protocol for NADH determination was established and its mechanism was discussed. This proposed fluorescence sensor displayed an enhanced performance for NADH determination with the linear range up to 80 mM and the detection limit down to 25.1 nM.